“And it couldn’t have waited until after school?” Zeke countered.
“My eyes changed twice,” Ethan announced.
“Changed how?” Lucy asked as she leaned forward. Something about the curious light in her eyes rubbed me wrong. Who the fuck was she to him that he should tell her?
I wasn’t the only one thinking the same thing. Ethan shot her a look and said nothing.
Lucy’s face turned pink as she hunched her shoulders a little.
“Look, you’re nice and all,” Isaac intervened before his twin could say something offensive, “but I don’t know you that well.”
“She’s here to help,” Miles reminded us.
Isaac scowled at Miles. “And my brother doesn’t want to talk about the shit happening to him in front of her. Deal with it.”
Miles eventually nodded.
“I’m going to go back to my room,” Lucy said, in a soft voice. She picked up her dishes and rose.
“You don’t have to.” Miles pushed his glasses up his nose. “We can simply talk about it later.”
She shook her head a little. “No, this… this is family stuff.”
No one denied it or even tried to stop her as she went to the kitchen and dropped off her dishes before heading to her room.
“Okay, Jadis is here and Ethan’s eyes changed,” Asher said once her door closed. “Anyone else have anything they need to share?”
Miles began to tap his thigh.
“Miles.” Zeke sent him a knowing look.
Miles glanced at him before looking down at the coffee table. “My father’s lawyers brought me the paperwork for a living trust. Basically, my father is trying to give everything to me and my mother. Except the shipping business.”
The others sat with mouths slightly open. Obviously, they knew something I didn’t. Again.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
The guys turned in unison and all of them had surprise written across their faces.
“You haven’t told her?” Asher scowled.
Miles grew pale. “No.”
My heart dropped. “What haven’t I been told?”
Miles began tapping his fingers in that staccato rhythm.
The guys continued to watch Miles, clearly expecting him to speak. Miles stayed quiet.
As every second went by, my chest grew tighter. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I snapped. “Fine, I’ll just leave.” Furious, I got to my feet and stormed away. Slamming the door as I left, I started toward my truck. Just as I got to the driver’s side, the front door opened again.
Miles raced into the gravel driveway. “Angel.”
“Don’t fucking Angel me!” My voice echoed across the foggy grounds as I turned on him. “You’d think after over a year, I’d deserve a little more information than Lucy.”
“Lexie, why are you so angry?”
“You’ve been different since we got back!” I snapped.
“No, I haven’t been.” His face was blank as he continued toward me.
“Bullshit.” I opened the driver’s door so I could climb in but instead turned back to Miles. “Hell, you talk to Lucy more than me!”
“I talk to you all the time."
“You don’t really talk to me anymore. It’s all about how this group relationship is going to work and shit.”
His mouth pinched into a tight line. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“From what?” I growled back.
“Lexie…” His voice was patient.
I shook my head, blood boiling. “If you want out of this relationship so you can get with Lucy then just fucking tell me.”
“That’s the third time you’ve brought her up. What does she have to do with anything?” His voice was full of confusion but I didn’t care. I was fed up.
“You tell me,” I bit out between my teeth as I took a step closer. “Why did you stand me up on our first actual date to unpack a lab with Lucy?”
“Oh fuck,” Zeke muttered from the doorway before closing the door.
I kept my eyes on his. “What was so important about unpacking a lab that wasn’t even important enough to tell me about it in the first place?”
“You’re being ridiculous.” His eyes narrowed on me.
I scowled at him. “I’m being ridiculous? You blow me off to do stuff with her. You didn’t bat a fucking eye when she sat in on a family meeting. You talk to her more than you talk to me.”
“She lives with me.” His voice held an edge of ice to it.
I shook my head. “Does she even know I’m your girlfriend?”
My eyes stung as I stayed silent. Dreading his reply, I refused to move on. I needed his answer.
Eventually he spoke. “I don’t believe so.”
It was like a blow to the chest. It took my breath away. “Why?”
“Why would I tell her?” Miles asked his knuckles tapping his thigh.
I scowled at him. “Because she likes you, Miles. Even you’re not that oblivious.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He pushed his glasses up. “You’re being jealous for no reason.”
Was he not listening? I had just laid out every reason why I felt this way. The changes in him over the last month. It all sat in my chest like a boulder, making it harder and harder to breathe.
I turned to get in my truck.
Before I could get inside, Miles slammed the door shut. I turned back to him, stunned at the completely blank look on his face.
“What should I do? Throw her out of my house onto the street?” he asked, his voice harsh. “What the hell do you want me to do?”
I stood there, rooted in place. Miles cursed in front of me. He was either losing it or angry. I eyed his face. I couldn’t tell which.
The tension drained from his body. He even took a step back from me. Then another. He tore his gaze from me and looked out at the rolling lawn. Sunlight moved across it, raising a morning dew from the grass.
My throat tightened as I looked at the driver’s door.
Silence echoed across the front yard.
“I want you to be honest with me.” My voice cracked. “Like you’re always demanding of the rest of us.”
His fist clenched at his side as he continued looking out at the morning dew. “I can’t. You could get hurt.”
I turned back to him, stunned. What did he fucking think was happening now? “I know I’m not a genius.”
Miles’ head snapped back around. Those hunter-green eyes met mine.
“I know I can’t keep up with you intellectually. But I still deserve the fucking truth.” I swallowed hard. “If you don’t love me anymore, just tell me so I know where I stand.”
His lips parted slightly and the breath left him in a rush. Disbelief slid over his face. He took those last steps to me and his hands cradled my face as his lips took mine. He kissed me deeply, desperately, need rising fast until I met every stroke of his tongue. Holding nothing back, I kissed him as if it was the last time while tears fell down my face to roll over his fingers. When he eventually pulled back, he pressed his forehead against mine, his nose brushing mine.
I kept my eyes closed, waiting for the end. Waiting for goodbye.
“Loving you is the only thing I’m certain of in this world anymore,” he whispered, his voice rough.
Relief swamped me. I wrapped my fingers in his shirt.
He held me against him tightly. “No one could ever replace you. Not for me.”
I swallowed hard and took several deep breaths as I soaked him in.
“My father subcontracts with the mafia in New York,” he whispered. “They helped him set up the shipping business, and in return he allows them to use his business for smuggling. It’s why I won’t touch that business. I thought they might come after you if you knew. I can’t risk you.”
I jerked back from him and scowled up at him. “That’s it? That’s why you were being all fucking weird?”
He nodded slowly as he ste
pped closer again. “You’re more than smart enough, Angel. You see things in a way I never could. In a way I never have.” He bent his neck and brushed his lips over mine. “I love you, Alexis. Never doubt that again.”
I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight. He kissed my temple before burying his nose into my hair.
“You drive me crazy,” I muttered.
He chuckled. “I know.”
Which made me laugh. When we pulled away from each other we were both smiling.
His hand moved to my lower back and he walked me back to the house.
The guys were waiting for us in the living room.
“Are you two good?” Isaac asked carefully as we took our spots again.
“Yeah.” I picked up my coffee again. “Sorry about that.”
Miles turned to the others. “She knows.”
“About fucking time,” Zeke bit out before taking a bite of potatoes.
“Could he be trying to leave the business?” Isaac asked, as if Miles and I hadn’t just blown up.
“There’s no out for him, so I can’t see that.” Miles shook his head. “We need to get back on topic.”
“What was the topic again?” Asher asked, his voice tired.
I snorted. “Jadis is in town.”
“So, what does she want?” Ethan asked.
Miles turned to me. “When you met with her, how did she seem?”
I shrugged. “Calm, antagonistic, egotistical. You know, her usual psychotic self.”
The twins chuckled.
Miles’ face, however, didn’t even twitch. “We need to be serious, Lexie.”
I finished my sip. “I am. I told you guys everything yesterday.”
“Well, Lucy had some ideas about what she might have been up to,” Miles said. “We could use the help.”
I fought back the urge to curse. This was never going to work if I didn’t trust Miles. He loved me. “She was on a simple recruit speech. But I think she’s only trying to get me to their side as a plan B.”
Miles’ eyes narrowed on mine. “What do you mean?”
“I think they’re after whoever closed the Veil in the first place.”
“What would that get her?” Ethan asked before taking a bite out of a sausage link.
“Well, think about it.” I turned to him. “She wants to control every supernatural species in the world. What better way than to hold that world hostage?”
Isaac’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean, do what I say or everyone dies?”
I nodded before taking another sip of coffee.
“What are you basing your hypothesis on?” Miles asked.
“Because she wants control and only two people have access to the Veil right now. Well, until this morning.”
“Good point. But there’s no proof, just observations and assumptions.” Miles stroked his chin with his thumb, his gaze unfocused. “We should see about adding potions to your belts.”
“Belts?” Zeke scowled. “What belts?”
Miles focused on us again. “Lucy has several potion mixes that work just as well as spells in a combat situation. We’re hoping to arm everyone with them so that you can fight back if there is an attack. They’d sit on a belt at your waist.”
“It would be great not to be cannon fodder,” Isaac said with mock enthusiasm.
Ethan snorted. “Speak for yourself, I’m apparently fireproof.”
Isaac and I snorted.
“Come on, you three,” Miles scolded. “Do we all agree that finding the person who closed the Veil is the number one concern?”
“Yeah,” everyone said in unison.
“Okay, Jadis and her cronies are here,” Zeke stated. “Anyone else have anything they need to share.”
Miles began to tap his fingers on the arm of the couch. “Asher? Don’t you have something to share?”
“Something happened?” I began rubbing my temple.
Asher sighed. “Yeah. During a fight with my dad, I was trying to leave and he grabbed my arm to stop me. Nothing he hadn’t ever done before. I… I shoved him into the wall. Hard enough that it cracked and dented the dry wall.”
My heart dropped. “Is everyone okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, he was just shocked. I went for a run. Let’s get back to what else Jadis might be up to.”
“It could be Ethan.” Isaac said. “Right?”
“Well, we are in a prime summer tourist spot,” I quipped. “Maybe she’s here for the lake.”
The twins chuckled. Zeke snorted.
“She could be doing it to fuck with our heads or get her hands on Ethan again. Maybe even just throw us off our game.”
I shook my head. “They’re after who closed the Veil. I’m sure of it. I think fucking with us and Ethan is a bonus to them.”
“Fucking Witch’s Council.” Asher started to rub the back of his neck.
“No, remember?” I shrugged. “Evelyn couldn’t find any connection. It looks like they’re a group just using the name, so they might be a complete unknown.”
“Either way, we need to find this fucker before they do,” Zeke stated.
“At least we have a head start on the trails and the symbol,” I muttered.
“Do we?” Miles asked.
I turned to him. “What do you mean?”
Miles leaned forward, drawing everyone’s attention. “She made sure that you knew she was here. She could have stayed hidden. She let us know she was here.”
My shoulders grew tense. I knew I wasn’t going to like what came out of his mouth next.
“They could have been here for weeks. Following, watching us, searching,” Miles said.
Yep. I didn’t like it one bit. “You said your investigator said we weren’t being followed.”
Miles nodded. “Yes, he did. But he’s only human. There are probably magical means to eavesdrop or track someone.”
The guys cursed and started going over what our choices were, what we could do about Jadis.
I looked down at my empty mug. Nope. Not enough. “I’m going to make more coffee.” I picked up my mug and went into the kitchen.
Taking deep breaths, I went about setting the pot up for fresh coffee then hit the button.
Jadis was in town. Her cronies probably were too. She changed Ethan. She was probably looking for the fucker who closed the Veil. She wanted to control every supernatural in the world. We needed to find this asshole first. And we still had nothing.
The answer slipped out of the dark, ruthless part of me. The place I didn’t like to go. The place I didn’t even like to look at. I thought it over again. I cursed and ran to the false pantry. Throwing open the door, I hurtled down the steps to the basement. “Sam!” My voice echoed off the walls of a long, bare hallway.
A door on the right side of the hall opened. His curly mahogany hair was mussed, his silver eyes half lidded.
Samuel scowled at me through those half open lids. “You know, that’s extremely rude. It’s late as hell right now for vampires.”
I didn’t beat around the bush. “Jadis is in town.”
He arched an eyebrow as footsteps came down the hall behind me.
“I think she’s looking for the fucker who closed the Veil.” I pointed at him. “We need every resource we have looking in the woods for that symbol and setup, starting a search in town and branching out to every possible hiding place.”
Sam’s eyes opened all the way. “If she gets control of the Veil—”
“She’d control the supernatural world,” I stated simply. “But there’s no proof.”
“Even so, that would be a disaster. The shifters could probably take the days if Asher asks them to. Me and mine can take over your searching at night”—Samuel met my eyes—“if we weren’t spending so much time going out to feed.”
“What do you want, Samuel?” I didn’t have time for the run around.
“The right to feed in town.” His voice was deadpan.
“Only if they’re over eighte
en. No killing, and they better not remember shit,” I decided.
“Lexie!” Isaac’s shocked voice didn’t even deter me.
“And if you get a shot at that bitch Jadis, take it.”
“Ally?”
I turned to find Asher, Isaac, Ethan and Miles looking at me as if I had lost my mind. Zeke’s face, however, was brimming with approval.
“I am done playing her game,” I bit out. “She hurts the people I love, fucks up their lives, and I’m supposed to just take the high road?” I looked at each of them. “Fuck that.”
“Angel…”
I ignored him as I made my way through the guys and up the stairs.
“Lexie, are you sure you want to do this? Bring the vampires and shifters into this now? They’re not exactly subtle,” Ethan said as he entered the living room with the others a step behind him.
“Subtle doesn’t always work,” Zeke countered.
I turned on them. “What am I supposed to do? We need to search along another hundred trails around town before we even start to move toward Bridgeport and Dulcet. And we can’t get all of them. We could afford to when we had time, but Jadis is here. She might have been here for weeks. Our time is up. We need to find something now.”
“You just gave permission for the vampires to feed on the town,” Asher reminded me.
“She gave them conditions,” Zeke countered.
“All we have are theories and observations.” I shook my head. “If we are going to get ahead of Jadis, we need all the help we can get.”
The guys were silent as I waited for another objection. But they didn’t give me one.
Miles nodded. “You’re right. We can’t afford for Jadis to find this person first.”
Zeke met my gaze. “The town’s going to turn into a battlefield.”
“Not if we can move fast enough.” I shrugged. “If we can find them first, then we can stop it before people get caught in the crossfire.”
“Then what do we do with the one who opened the Veil?” Miles asked, plunging the room into silence.
“Good question.” Isaac turned to me. “Do we have a plan?”
It was like a bucket of ice water. “No. No, we don’t.” I sat down on the couch, all the air rushing from me. “I never thought that far ahead.”
When the Dead Come Home Page 11
